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Pope holds press conference on flight back from Brazil

29/07/2013

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(Vatican Radio) From the future of the Vatican bank to the role of women in the Church,
from Vatileaks to the highlights of his pontificate so far: on the flight back from
Brazil to Rome Pope Francis gave journalists free rein to ask questions about the
Church and about his own challenges as successor of St Peter. Philippa Hitchen takes
a look at what the Holy Father had to say…..

In the impromptu press conference
aboard the papal plane, journalists spent over an hour questioning the Pope about
his recent visit to Brazil for World Youth Day, about plans for future foreign trips,
about his ecumenical vision and about the day to day business of dealing with scandals
and other obstacles within the Vatican walls.

Describing himself as tired,
but spiritually renewed, the Pope talked about the very positive experience of meeting
with three million young people in Brazil. He spoke of the security concerns, but
stressed that it’s madness to try and separate a bishop from his people.

Discussing
future papal journeys, he confirmed he’ll be travelling to Sardinia in September,
to Assisi in October and said he hopes to visit his relatives in northern Italy because
they’ve been asking to see him. He also spoke of plans for a meeting with Ecumenical
Patriarch Bartholomew in Jerusalem, but said there was no definite decision yet. He
also confirmed that former Popes John XXIII and John Paul II will be canonized at
the same time, either this October or, most likely, the week after Easter next year.

Asked
about relations with the Orthodox Church, Pope Francis spoke of the sense of beauty
and adoration in the Eastern liturgies and how a consumerist mentality in the West
has weakened our sense God. The author Dostoevsky, he added, should be required reading
for anyone seeking to understand the soul of Russia and its people.

Commenting
on the Vatican bank, as the Institute for Works of Religion is commonly called, Pope
Francis acknowledged the difficulties in deciding whether to change its status or
close it altogether – he said he was relying on the advice of a commission of experts
called in to promote ‘honesty and transparency’.

Speaking of other problems
within the administration of the Holy See, including rumours of a ‘gay lobby’ within
the Vatican, Pope Francis said there are many saintly people working in the Curia
but also those who are not so saintly and cause scandals which harm the Church. Quoting
from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, he said that people with homosexual tendencies
must not be excluded but should be integrated into society. “If a person is gay and
seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge him?” he asked.

Questioned about
the role of women in the Church, the Pope said the issue of ordination is ‘a closed
door’ but he said he would like to see more women in leadership roles. Just as Mary
was more important than the Apostles, he said, so women today are more important than
bishops and priests and there is a great need for theology to explore and explain
this better.

Finally on a very personal level, Pope Francis shared how he misses
the freedom of being able to walk and meet people in the streets, how he lives in
the Santa Martha guesthouse because he needs to talk to others and how he has always
found pleasure as a priest, bishop and now pastor of the universal Church in following
the Lord’s will.